Ex-RC football, lacrosse player on Mexican team in lacrosse title game

By Mira Brody February 28, 2014 12:00 am

Just four years ago, Sergio Orduna was playing lacrosse and football for Rancho Cotate High School, and now the 22-year-old Sierra Nevada College student is training to play for Mexico’s team in the Federation of International Lacrosse Championships this summer.

An evolving team, Orduna was first spotted by the Mexican lacrosse coach three years ago at a tournament at University of Nevada, back when he played for Diablo Valley College. The coach, Ozzy Diaz, who currently lives in Fresno, was impressed with what he saw and encouraged Sergio and his family to come play with them during their annual tournaments in Mexico City.

“I got on the team because my dad is Mexican-American,” Orduna says, explaining that in order to play for an international team of another country, at least one parent has to be a native. “Mexico’s team is still growing, so I’ve been going down there to teach them more about the game, holding clinics for the players. We can show them new techniques, so they can get better.”

By 2013, Orduna had already played not only for Rancho’s club team and Diablo Valley College, but also for Santa Rosa Junior College, USA West Manchester and a few other traveling teams. It was at SRJC that he received a formal invitation for tryouts in Mexico as well as offered a full scholarship at Sierra Nevada College if he continued to play.

“They told us not to get our hopes too high,” notes his father, Sergio Orduna Sr., who has been active in Rancho sports for years. “But after those years playing with them in the tournaments, they were really impressed with his performance.”

Orduna has been playing lacrosse for 10 years, and had originally joined to stay in shape during the football off-season. Now his younger brother, who is still at Rancho, shows signs of following in his footsteps.

“Lacrosse takes my mind off of everything,” says Orduna, who is a full-time college student studying business management. Five days out of the week he has practice in the morning and workouts at night in-between class. “It’s a good stress reliever.”

After living in Rohnert Park for 15 years, he enjoys the small town feel of Lake Tahoe and being near the mountains. After graduating in 2016, he hopes to remain in California and maybe start building his own business. As of right now, he is focused on the World Championship game approaching this July in Denver.

“At Rancho, my best memories were probably playing lacrosse and traveling to the games with all my friends,” says Orduna.

If he does well in the championship game this summer, the hope is to get noticed by another coach or scout, possibly by an East Coast team, where lacrosse is a bit more competitive and popular. Either way, he promises the sport will remain a mainstay in his future and appears consistently optimistic and confident in his practice.